Flying Blind
by Luckyxxcharmxx
Summary: Paris is rarely surprised when victims are akumatised anymore, it's become the norm. However they are shocked when this new villian seems to actually be seriously dangerous; and even more frightening is that the classic crime-fighting duo is nowhere to be found. What will become of the Parisians? And what will happen if, just once, the villian finds good all on her own?
1. ~Prelude~

**~Prelude~**

" _Get out of here! We don't want you!"_

 _"You're useless to us!"_

 _"Go back to where you came from!"_

 _"Get out of Paris!"_

 _"We only want one of you! Just give up!"_

 _"You disgust me, Ladybug!"_

 _"Go die, Chat Noir!"_

 _"Give up your miraculouses!"_

 _"You're **nothing** to us now!"_

Ladybug inhaled shaky breaths, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. It would have made hearing these things easier if they were akumatized while saying them, but she knew that wasn't the case.

Paris simply hated her and Chat Noir now.

"Chat," she whimpered, turning to him. he was blinking rapidly, as if trying to hold his own tears in.

"My Lady," he rasped in reply, sniffling.

"One of us has to -"

"No!" He growled, not letting her finish.

The two were on top of Mayor Bourgeois' hotel, an angry mob of Parisian's protesting at the base.

Chat pulled his lady into a bone crushing hug with a desperation that rivalled no other. "Please, I can't - I can't lose you. Paris _needs_ us. _Both_ of us. Even if they don't realise it right now." He swallowed the lump forming painfully in his throat and glanced down at the hoard.

Signs with the heroes' faces crossed out in red sharpie, offensive slogans and threats plastered on white cardboard, numerous fires with Ladybug and Chat Noir memorabilia slowly burning - it was an all out protest of over a thousand Parisians, the troop spanning across the road and around the building.

News vans and helicopters stood by, cameras faced at them as they hugged, and the foreboding grey clouds that hung dark over their embracing figures flashed with lightening from a storm that had yet to begin.

Thunder rumbled the hotel and city street, providing an unpleasantly matching mood to the already dark day.

"You know it's the only way." The spotted heroine protested weakly, equally as unwilling to quit as her black-clad partner. But it was true. It _was_ the only way. And they both knew that.

"Ladybug-" Chat's voice cracked with emotion as the tears he'd valiantly been tying to hold back broke the dam and streaked soundlessly down his distressed face. Ladybug's followed and together the two cried in each other's arms as they prepared to say their final goodbye's to one another.

The raucous shouts of the protesting citizens below increased in sound as the lightening flashed again, the first fat raindrops splashing down onto the cracked pavement, an incessant _splat_ sound echoing dejectedly into the frigid air.

"My Lady," Chat tried again, sniffling once more and looking straight into his partner's eyes. Her own widened at the emotion clearly displayed in his. Her Chat was usually so flamboyant, flirty and energetic. His eyes usually gleamed with an unpronounced _vigour_ and mischief. This Chat's eyes only held lost hope and a sadness no one his age should ever experience. It shattered her already broken heart.

"I need you to know - these last three years have been... _everything_ to me." He breathed, sobbing into the now pouring rain as it mercilessly washed away every hopeless dream he'd had of a future with his lady.

"Chat," she attempted to respond, before being cut off again.

"No, please Ladybug - I need to tell you." He pleaded, emerald eyes brimming with new stinging tears. She closed her eyes and nodded, hiccuping a sob as her kitty laid himself bare to her.

"I love you, my Lady. I will always love you. Whether I'm no longer Chat, whether you're no longer Ladybug. You'll still always be my everything." He sobbed, closing his eyes and preparing for her imminent rejection. Ladybug gasped.

She had long since given up her crush on Adrien, the two were eighteen now and he still haden't even _noticed_ her. It was at this moment she realised, in the centre of the storm, the heat of the riot, who her heart truly belonged to.

"I love you too." She whispered back. Chat's eyes flew open and his mouth opened in shock, unprepared for her to smash her lips into his own, and froze as she did just that.

Her mouth pressed unmoving against his own for an unmeasurable amount of time before he realised what was happening and kissed her back. Lightening streaked and thunder rumbled, rain gushed down from the hateful sky, and the remaining protesters who hadn't scattered at the storm screamed bloody murder at the masked teenagers.

And Chat was kissing his Lady.

It was as sweet as it was heartbreaking. She tasted like cookies and cream and her lips were soft as the warmth she naturally emanated. It was everything he'd ever wanted and more. And it was all he was ever going to get.

Like giving candy to a baby only to immediately take it away, Chat felt physically sick as she retracted herself from the kiss. He'd had a glimpse of what he could have. A taste of what could be. It it was being violently ripped away from him and he didn't have the chance to stop it.

"I'll miss you so much," she panted, tears streaming down her face, aided by the droplets pouring from the clouds. "Ladybug, _please_. We can change their minds. I- I need you." He sobbed desperately, anything to convince the love of his life to stay.

"I'm sorry, Chat. It's the only way." She breathed, backing away, sobbing herself as she watched her funloving partner fall to his knees and break down in front of her. His screams echoed throughout the storm and the Parisians below held their breath as Ladybug jumped down from the building.

Chat remained up the top and cried agonisingly, knowing he should get up, follow her, but the pain in his heart held him down. Physically draining, the tears that pooled around his hunched figure mocked him. _Ladybug_.

At the bottom of the hotel, the booing crowd surged around Ladybug, demanding she transform and give up her Miraculous. She inhaled a deep shaky breath as she sniffled once more.

With a deep exhale, she felt one final tear trail down her mask, sealing her fate. The Parisian's had a chosen this. It was their decision. _They_ were to blame.

"Tikki. Spots off."

 **Hey! What's happenin? I introduce to you my new (and technically only, on this site anyway) story! I'm so happy to finally be publishing it, I have big plans for this one. I hope to update often, though work and school may get in the way of that occasionally. A quick sort of disclaimer though, this chapter does not occur before the events of the actual story, and is led up to. It should happen around chapter 26 I'd venture. I hope you look out for the updates and please remember, I love ya bubs .**


	2. One and a half months earlier

**I totally forgot to mention in the prologue; I do not own Miraculous Ladybug.**

 **Some characters and locations in this story, along with the plot line will be my original creations, but I do not own the comic, TV show, existing characters, or anything of the sort. Those rights belong solely to the brilliant Mr Thomas Astruc (and Zagtoon). I wish I did own it, but I unfortunately do not, so with that disclaimer out of the way, please allow me to present chapter 1: Enjoy!**

XxXxXxX

 **Marinette:**

"Aah! Why am I always so late?!" Marinette cried as she rushed around her room at top speed, collecting her bag and the homework she'd stayed up half the night working on.

The girl raced to change into her usual outfit and pulled her blue hair into its usual twin tails. "Tikki!" She called, hurrying to open her trapdoor as the kwami in question flew over to her with a comforting smile. "It's okay Marinette," she squeaked. "You've got a little time left."

Mari smiled thankfully at the red and black kwami as she flew into Marinette's purse, continuing to hurry down the stairs.

"Bye dear!" Tom and Sabine chuckled as their frazzled daughter careened through the bakery, grabbing some chocolate chip cookies and placing them into her purse, barely managing a returning 'goodbye!' before flying out the door.

Sabine turned to her husband with an amused ' _what are we going to do with that girl?'_ expression, to which he responded with an equally amused head shake. "I don't know either, dear." Tom answered the unspoken question.

Marinette was their pride and joy and so creative but she could not get anywhere on time to save her life.

"We'll just have to love her and hope for the best." He grinned, as his wife smiled softly and nodded her head in agreement. "Now how about we get started and open this place."

XxXxXxX

Marinette ran down the street as fast as she could. You'd think living literally right across the road from the school would mean she couldn't be late but you'd be WRONG. She could be late to _anything_ if she put her mind to it.

 _Oh my Gosh I'm so late! Damn! Mrs Malendaviev is NOT gonna be happy!_ "Marinette look out!" Tikki called from the bluenette's purse as her chosen nearly ran into a cyclist. "Oh my gosh! I'm sorry!" Mari called as the biker rode away, annoyed. "Oh well, I tried." She reasoned as she made it to the school, rushing in and making it to her class right as the tardy bell rang.

"Ah, Marinette Dupain Cheng. Glad to see you've joined us." The science teacher quipped impatiently. "Take a seat." She started writing some formulas on the board as Marinette heaved a sigh of relief and slunk to her spot next to Alya. The red head smirked and looked over at her flushed best friend.

"Over slept?" She giggled as Marinette flopped her head on the desk and panted, looking over to Alya with sad puppy dog eyes. "I woke up three minutes ago." She admitted, much to the amusement of the class's resident blogger. Alya smiled and shook her head at the girl's antics. "Well girl, that means you didn't check the Ladyblog this morning. You _have_ to see the video I got of the fight last night, it's amazing!"

Marinette cringed at the mention of last night's akuma. His name was The Heartbreaker and he got all the girls he passed to fall madly in love with him.

The fight was going pretty well and the Miraculous duo seemed to be winning.

Unfortunately however the love spell also applied to Ladybug and after a well placed shot she swooned over him, almost giving him her miraculous simply because he asked.

Chat Noir, thank God for his jealousy, had used Cataclysm on the bracelet Heartbreaker's ex girlfriend had given him and released the akuma. Ladybug gained back her senses just in time to cleanse the butterfly before it got away and sent everything back to normal. Chat was pretty sour to the cleansed victim after that and chose to ignore him as Ladybug explained what happened.

 _That cat and his ego..._ Marinette internally bemused, rolling her eyes at her partner. You'd think after three years of fighting crime together he'd let it go, but no Chat still had a small crush on her. He never explicitly stated it but she knew he did.

As Alya pulled out her phone the loudspeaker in the classroom rang out with a message from the principle.

"Attention all students; as the America trip begins next Tuesday, Monday is a free day to pack for **twelfth grade students only**. All other grades must attend as per usual."

Marinette's brows furrowed as she looked around the classroom. No one else seemed to be questioning what Mr Damocles had just said. She leaned over to her best friend.

"What did he just say? America trip? Tuesday? Twelfth grade?" She whispered to the distracted red head.

"Oh yeah he's talking about our trip," she muttered, searching through her videos to find last night's fight. "Trip? _What trip?_ " Marinette hissed. "The senior trip," the blogger replied. Mari just stared at her. Alya finally caught on that her friend was completely clueless and gave up searching for the video, focussing all her attention on Mari.

"The America trip." She tried to jog her friend's memory. "You know, the one we paid for _last year_? The one we booked hotel rooms for _last year_. The one we've been looking forward to _since last year_!"

" _THAT'S NEXT TUESDAY_?!" Marinette shrieked. "Miss Dupain Cheng!" The teacher exclaimed, piercing Marinette with a glower that made her shrink back in her seat. " _What_ are you doing?"

"S-sorry M-miss. It w-won't happen again." The girl stammered, Mrs Malendaviev simply huffed and turned back to writing her formulas.

Marinette slumped down. She hadn't even thought about the senior trip since she paid for accomodation and transport last year. Each year the current Grade twelve students went on a three week trip to America as part of some "educational tourism" thing the school had elected thirteen or so years ago.

"You _are_ ready aren't you?" Alya questioned, worried that her best friend hadn't sorted her passport and stuff. "Oh yeah, I am, I just completely forgot that that was coming up. I have to sort something out with someone," she finished, thinking to Chat Noir who would now have to fight akumas and do their nightly patrols by himself for three weeks.

It was at this point Nino decided to let the girls know he'd been listening into the conversation. "Oh haha, you can talk to them the same time my boy Adrien tells his girlfriend he's leaving for almost a month." Marinettes eyes bugged out of her head as she looked to her blonde crush.

He was glowering at Nino. "She's _not_ my girlfriend." Nino rolled his eyes. "But you _want_ her to be, don't you?" Adrien opened his mouth but spluttered his way through some non answer. "And you meet up with her _every night_ don't you?" Adrien narrowed his eyes. "How do you know about that?"

Unbeknownst to either of the boys Marinette was slowly feeling her heart shatter to pieces. _He meets up with this girl every night?_ She blinked back tears and swallowed the painful lump forming in her throat. Alya looked over at her with a concerned expression.

"It's okay girl, I'll help you out." She whispered to her heartbroken best friend. She raised her hand. "Miss Malendaviev? Marinette just got a text that her pet cat died and she needs some space, can I take her to the nurse?" Even in her depressed state Marinette couldn't help but snort at the irony that Alya would pick a _cat_ of all things.

Miss Malendaveiv nodded her approval and Adrien looked at his friend with worry. "Oh no, I'm so sorry, are you okay Mari?" He felt especially close to cats (except for annoying ones that only ate stinky cheese) and could understand her needing some time. _I didn't even know she **had** a cat. _

Seeing the worry in her crush's eyes made her break down even quicker as she choked on a sob. _Why can't he just be an ass? He has a girlfriend, why does he have to be a great guy and give me no choice but to love him?_ Alya answered for her. "No, Adrien she's _not_ okay. She _loved_ that cat and now he's _dead_ to her."

Despite the not so discreet jab at Adrien, she was fixing a death stare on Nino the entire time.

As the red head escorted the bluenette out of the classroom Nino turned to look at his best bud. "Dude, why was she glaring at _me_ the whole time?"

XxXxXxX 

**Boom! Chapter One is complete! "Haza! yay! Queen Ada, we love you!"**

 **Aw, that's so sweet, thank you! Aighty but jokes aside I hope you did enjoy chapter 1, and I'm sorry it's so long - I was gonna try and make these short chapters but well, that never works out. I don't know yet if this is going to be an angst story but either way, I have thirteen chapters outlined and ready to be written so I'm not gonna give up on it.**

 **Please be on the lookout for updates and keep on bein' snazzy. Luv ya bubs.**


	3. Posters

**Arianna:**

"H- here you go s-sir, I have your c-coffee as w-well as the Dumphry files, and I s-sent those invoices to Mr H-Harris as you requested." Arianna stammered, sitting the folders and coffee on her boss's desk.

"What about my dry cleaning, Amanda?" Calvin demanded. "A-actually Sir, it's Arianna. M-my name i-is Arianna."

"I don't _care_ Ariel, what's the situation with my dry cleaning?" Arianna passed him the stub to the Taiwanese Dry Cleaning store she'd taken his suits to. "Um, t-they said it'd be th-three to four hours before they're r-ready." She stuttered.

"What is this? Why are you giving this to me? _You_ are picking it up Aaliyah!" He burst, causing Arianna to cower back. "B-but Sir, I'm o-off in t-two hours." He pursed his lips angrily. "Am I going to have to find another secretary, Alyssa?" She shook here head weakly. "O-okay, I c-can work o-overtime I g-guess."

She normally didn't stutter but her boss was a very intimidating man, on top of the fact that he seemed slightly... unprofessional at times.

"Very good Allison. Now send in Gerald." Right at that moment there was a knock at Calvin's office door and Arianna went over to open it, a leering Gerald standing in front of her.

"Hm, _good afternoon_ Andrea." He smiled creepily at her, as an uncomfortable shiver ran up her back. "Hello, Gerald." She clipped, moving to step past him. He placed his hand in front of her to stop her movement, his hand grazing against the side of her chest unexpectedly. She looked up at him in disgust, as he moved his hand like nothing had happened.

"Where're you going?"

"To my job. I have _work_ to do." She answered brusquely, successfully making it past him this time. She sat at her desk in front of Calvin's office, however realising too late that the door was still open and she could hear what they were saying.

"Ooh, she's feisty." Gerald remarked, to which her boss replied with a non committal 'hm'. "She has a nice ass though," he added as an afterthought. Her boss replied a little more eagerly to this. "Oh I know, you should see her rack when she places files on my desk, I can see _right_ down her blouse." Arianna was filled with disgust. He ogled her at her work? What did he take her for?

"I definitely would've fired her by now if it weren't for that chest. She's a great secretary but she's so mousy and boring. Good thing she's nice to look at, or she'd have _nothing_ going for her." Calvin continued, as Arianna felt tears well up in her eyes.

 _I'm just something to look at? That's it?_ As she felt the self shame and hurt develop in her, a smirking Hawkmoth looked out his open window. "Oh Arianna, you're feeling under appreciated and objectified, a perfect combination to create a successfully _evil_ akuma.

However I can tell that this situation will only escalate, and you'll be much stronger if I wait for the negative emotions to _truly_ develop. Luckily for you, and _un_ luckilyfor Ladybug and Chat Noir, I'm a very patient man. I can wait." And with that the window closed as Hawkmoth transformed back into a very smug Gabriel Agreste.

"I can wait."

XxXxXxX 

**Marinette:**

"Girl are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Alya asked, concerned. They were standing outside the Dupain-Cheng's bakery and Alya didn't want to leave her friend alone after the events that had occurred that morning.

"Yeah Alya, I'll be fine. Thanks." Marinette smiled sadly at her friend. The red head nodded, disbelieving but accepting. "Well okay, but I'm only a phone call away if you want me to come over and talk trash about him with you." She grinned, finally getting her friend to laugh. It was a sob of a laugh, but a laugh all the same.

"Thanks Alya," she chuckled. "I love you girl," the red head pulled her in for a hug as Mari sniffled. "I love you too," she replied meaningfully, squeezing her friend's midriff. "And I promise that I'll kill Nino for you." The Ladyblogger added, as an after thought. Marinette shook her head. "Don't worry about it, he didn't know." Alya frowned, but nodded.

"Fine, he can live. But don't think I'm not going to torture him a little bit." Mari rolled her eyes but silently thanked her friend, Alya was the reason she didn't break down in class. "Bye girl," she said as she stepped away from the embrace, Marinette glumly waved back and headed inside.

"Marinette? Are you okay, sweety?" Sabine questioned worriedly. Marinette nodded and continued up her stairs. "Yeah, I just need a minute." She choked, making it to her room and closing the trap door, before flinging herself on the bed and letting her tears pour.

 _He has a girlfriend. Or at least, someone he **wants** to be his girlfriend. And he meets up with her **every night**._

Tikki flew from the purse and started playing with her chosen's hair. "Oh Marinette," she squeaked comfortingly. Mari sobbed, and the kwami grabbed a box of tissues, bringing it to her favourite Ladybug out of all of them.

"H-he meets her _every night_ , Tikki." Mari wailed, using the tissue to delicately dab her eyes. She looked around her room, Adrien's gorgeous face smiling back at her with every poster she'd hung up, his schedule she'd compiled carefully over the past three years, her favourite picture from his swimsuit photo shoot she'd had as her laptop's screen saver.

"I mean I knew I never had a chance with him, but I thought that _no one_ else did either. He's just too perfect and wonderful and, and now he has a _girlfriend_." She bawled.

The kwami sighed and continued to play with Marinette's hair. "The universe plays its cards in questionable ways, but it knows what it's doing." She answered vaguely. "W-what?" Her chosen asked.

"You may not realise it right now Marinette, but I've been around for thousands of years. Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes you hurt the ones you love the most. Sometimes you hold the ones who leave you lost. And sometimes you learn. But it's too late." Tikki replied, the last part sounding like a mantra she'd repeated over and

over again.

"Tikki, _what're_ you saying?" The girl sat up, looking at her kwami confused. "I'm _saying_ that maybe this happened for a reason. I understand that you're heartbroken, Marinette, it's to be expected considering you've loved him for three years. But maybe this is to show you that you can't wait for things to happen on their own." The kwami explained.

"You waited and waited to tell him you liked him and you waited too long. Generally when people learn what they did wrong, it's too late." She finished, looking at Marinette with a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Marinette. But you needed to hear that." Her chosen was looking at her with a torn expression and it cut her up, but Marinette had to understand that Adrien couldn't be expected to wait for her to be ready.

Marinette inhaled a deep breath, held it, exhaled, and smiled. "You know what, Tikki? I _did_ need to hear that. Thank you." The kwami squeaked with relief that her favourite chosen didn't hate her. "You're welcome, Mari." She responded genuinely, a giant grin adorning her red face.

Marinette glanced around her room again, realising for the first time how _weird_ it was that she'd practically stalked him to get his schedule. And that he honestly _couldn't_ have been expected to wait for her. "I mean, I'm obviously going to _hurt_ for a while," she sighed, the pain in her chest still evident - despite her sudden realisation. "But, I think in the end, I'm gonna be okay."

Her kwami looked at her with such pride that Marinette blushed, but returned her smile with a genuine soft grin. "I love you, Tikki. I don't know what I'd do without you." Tikki's eyes welled up, none of her other chosens had said they loved her. "Oh Marinette!" She chirped, flying straight into the bluenette's chest as Mari giggled. "I love you too!" Tikki tried with all her might to hug the amused girl, but was simply too small.

She huffed, but accepted that she couldn't reach, opting instead to fly around in excited circles, as Marinette laughed harder. "Tikki stop it! You're gonna make me dizzy!" She chuckled as her kwami landed on her bed with a soft _thud_ and a broad grin.

"Now, I think it's about time I take down these posters. Then I'm going to give myself one night to grieve, and then I'll start the moving on process." Marinette stated determinedly, as her little bug friend closed her eyes and nodded, moving to help her chosen with the posters, still on cloud 9 from being loved.

XxXxXxX 

**Aah! I've done it again! Why I'm on a roll! I understand that the Arianna thing may have been a bit confusing at first, but trust me she's a MASSIVE part of this story later. I hope you liked it and if you did then please drop a comment and tell me your thoughts, also I'm always on the lookout for grammatical errors so if you spot any please tell me. (Haha, spot. I just unintentionally made a pun xD) aaand yea, enjoy! Luv ya bubs .**


	4. Departure

**Marinette:**

"Are you sure you've got everything honey?" Tom asked for the fourth time, knowing he was probably over doing it, but also knowing that his daughter tended to be on the rather forgetful side of the spectrum.

Marinette rolled her eyes for the third time. " _Yes_ _papa_ , I have got _everything_. My passport, my plane ticket, my money, my luggage, my ID, _and_ my phone. Don't worry - I've got this." She grinned. Sabine exited the bakery with a box in her hands and tears in her eyes.

"Oh, my little girl's gonna be gone for almost a _month_! I'll miss you so much!" She sobbed, passing the box to Tom and pulling her daughter into one of those _mom hugs_. You know, the bone crushing, painful, inescapable ones that somehow still make you feel safe and secure? Yeah, that one.

"Mom, it's only three weeks, and I've been going every Summer break since I was nine - the only difference this time is that it's for a class trip. I'm eighteen, not a little girl anymore." Marinette chuckled, hugging her mother back. "No. You'll always be the little baker with flour smudged on her cheek and unruly blue hair to me." Sabine denied, sobbing. Tom pulled his two girls into a group hug and together they bid farewell.

"Here, it's for your class on the bus trip there," Sabine handed Mari the pink box, filled to the brim with macaroons. The bluenette grinned and thanked her parents once again, before heading down the street towards the school, where all the other students were congregating and waiting for the buses.

"Don't forget to call us when you get to the airport!" Her mother called after her. "And once the plane's landed!" Marinette waved to show she'd heard. "And when you get to the hotel!" Mari rolled her eyes. "And every night before bed!" Mari blushed, she was getting closer to her classmates, this was getting embarrassing. "And when you-" "Okay mom!" Marinette yelled back, ignoring Kim's snickering as her cheeks tinged light pink.

Marinette stood on the footpath and waited for Alya, turning when she heard footsteps that she _assumed_ were her best friend's headed her way. She groaned as she saw the designer clothes and blonde hair stalking in her direction.

"Marinette Dupain Cheng." Chloe looked down her nose at the girl. "I see you're somewhere _on_ _time_ for once. What a shame, the trip would have been so much more fun without you." Marinette rolled her eyes and glared at the bane of her existence. "What do you _want_ Chloe?" She asked, already exasperated with the conversation.

"Well I was looking for my _Adrikins_ but he called and said he was going to be a few more minutes, so I was actually hoping to find you." Marinette's eyes bugged out of her head. "M-me? You were looking for m-me?" Chloe rolled her eyes and inspected her immaculate nails.

"Oh don't get your hopes up, it's not in my interest to _actually_ talk to you, but you can grovel if you wish." Marinette huffed and tapped her foot impatiently. "Would you just get in with it already?" The blonde narrowed her eyes. "Fine. I can stand to get away from you quicker, maybe then I won't smell like _bakery mice_." Marinette's jaw clenched. "There are _no_ mice in the-"

"Oh I couldn't care less, it's not like I'd ever _eat_ your food. I only eat the _finest_ delicacies that France has to offer. Anyway," Chloe's eyes narrowed into slits as she leaned into the bluenette's personal space.

"I'm here to warn you to stay away from Adrien. I know you heard about his _midnight rendezvous_ ' with that as yet unnamed girl and you need to know that doesn't make him any less _mine_." She hissed. Marinette's eyes widened a fraction. Well that at least eliminated Chloe from the list of possible students he'd been secretly meeting.

"He was _my_ Adrikins first and I'll be damned if I let some weasly little _brat_ worm her way into his heart. So _you_ stay away from him. I have a stressful enough situation finding out who this girl is and I don't need to be wasting my time beating you off with a stick because _you_ keep slobbering all over _my_ man." She finished, raising her chin.

Marinette blinked once. Twice. Three times. And then burst out laughing. "Chloe you are _seriously_ delusional if you think Adrien is 'your man'." She skilfully evaded the part about slobbering all over him, as she had been doing constantly over the past week in the lead up to the trip.

Chloe glared at her but turned on her heel and stalked off, probably in search of her minion (aka, Sabrina). At this point, Alya showed up and looked to the retreating blonde. "Um, what was the wicked witch of the west doing over here?" She raised her eyebrows at Mari who simply shook her head and shrugged.

"I don't know, being a nuisance?" She responded unhelpfully, to which Alya rolled her eyes. "Well obviously, it's Chloe, but why was she doing it over _here?_ " She repeated, and the girls giggled.

Despite her laughter Marinette couldn't help but notice Alya was slightly upset. "Hey, what's wrong?" She asked. The aspiring journalist simply shook her head, "It's nothing."

Marinette narrowed her eyes. Three years of being Alya's best friend left her pretty knowledgable as to when the girl was lying. And this was definitely one of those times.

"It's not nothing, I can tell. Come on, out with it." Marinette stood firm. Alya looked at her and sighed, knowing that Mari wouldn't relent until she told her what was wrong.

"Don't judge, okay?"

"I would never." Marinette replied honestly.

"Alright, I'm just really upset that I won't get to see Ladybug in action over the next three weeks. I mean don't get me wrong - I'm stoked for this trip. It's just the ladyblog has kinda become a major part of my life, ya know?" Alya confessed to her best friend.

Marinette's eyes widened at the mention of ladybug. _Oh no, I totally forgot to talk to Chat. He's gonna think I abandoned him!_

"-ri? Mari?" Alya snapped the girl out of her thoughts. "Uh, a little support would be great right about now." The red head implored, still sounding upset. Marinette shook her head and smiled convincingly at her best friend.

"I wouldn't worry about it Alya, she's on this trip." The bluenette answered unthinkingly.

"Wait - how do you know that? Do you know who Ladybug is under the mask?!" Alya shrieked at her best friend, whose eyes widened at her slip-up.

"What? No! No, of course not!" Mari denied, and the blogger crossed her arms.

"Then why do you think she's on this trip?" She asked suspiciously.

"Uh, um, ahh, because," Marinette floundered as she thought up something to tell her friend that wouldn't blow her cover. "Well, uh - you remember when Ladybug and Chat Noir fought The Pharoh? And how that morning you'd found the tenth grade history book that belonged to Ladybug? Well that means she'd have been in the tenth grade, and the tenth grade class she would've been in at the time would be a twelfth grade class now - and all four of the twelfth grade classes are going on this trip... so she's most likely one of the girls here." Marinette blurted out.

Alya's eyes widened in realisation. "Oh my God, girl. You're right! I forgot all about that - ahh! I could totally find out who Ladybug is on this trip!" Alya yelled excitedly, before rushing onto the bus to tell Nino. Marinette rolled her eyes fondly at her best friend.

"Do you really think that?" A familiar voice questioned from behind her, and Marinette spun around to find Adrien standing with a smile that made her heart soar. "Uh, um, do I think w-what?" She stuttered. Which annoyed her to no end, as over the last three years she'd slowly gotten more comfortable around Adrien and had stopped stammering. Maybe it was the discovery of his new girlfriend that set it off again.

"Do you really think Ladybug's on our trip?" He clarified, and it may have just been her - but he seemed really eager to hear what she thought. "Oh! Um, yeah! I do!" The bluenette answered. Adrien grinned and Mari could swear she felt her heart stop for a beat before continuing it's relentless pounding in her chest.

He seemed like he was about to say something but a loud and obnoxious " _Adrikins_!" halted that idea. As Adrien turned to greet Chloe, Marinette rolled her eyes, turning and heading onto the bus before taking a seat next to Alya.

"Hey Marinette," Nino waved from across the aisle, and as she waved back, his eyes wondered down to the bags she'd brought on with her, as sticking out of one of them was a promising looking box with her bakery's logo on it.

"Hey Mari?" He began sweetly, and the blunette giggled before pulling the box out and giving a macaroon to Alya and taking one herself. "Yes Nino?" She responded just as sweetly. The red head next to her giggled at the boy's hungry gaze. "Would it be possible that I might have a macaroon please?" He batted his eyelashes and Marinette lost in, laughing and handing him the box.

He took one and passed it around, a chorus of 'Thank you, Marrinette!"'s filling the bus. By the time the box got back to her there was only one left, which Mari and Alya split just like they did on the day they met. Adrien, Chloe and Sabrina entered the bus and took their seats before the teacher did a head count, and allowed the driver to start the bus. Overall there were two buses going, two classes in each. As the vehicle started moving Alya turned to her best friend.

"You ready for the best three weeks of your life?" She grinned and Marinette grinned back, nodding, despite her growing worry over the Chat situation. _Oh well, I'm sure he'll be able to handle himself. I'll just have to give him lots of cuddles when I get back._

If only she'd known just how dire the situation would be when she returned.

XxXxXxX

 **Dun! Dun! Duuuuhh! Ooh, complications in the works already? Can't wait to find out how that one goes!**

 **Nah but legit I'm having a lot of fun writing this and I hope you're enjoying reading it. I decided to start asking questions in the authors section here because why not so, question number one is -**

 ** _What's your favourite corner of the love square? Mine's MariChat but I do also have a soft spot for LadyNoir._**

 **Anywhoozles, keep an eye out for the updates and don't forget to be awesome. Luv ya bubs .**


	5. Blind-Side

**Marinette:**

As the plane's wheels descended onto the tarmac, the poor blunette was ready to descend into madness.

"Alya, _please_ , calm down." Marinette groaned at her overly excited friend.

"How can you expect me to calm down, Mari? We're in _America_!" Alya squealed.

"We're in _Orlando_." Marinette retorted.

"What's so wrong with Orlando?"

"Nothing's wrong with Orlando, I have a very close friend that lives in Orlando. I'm just saying it's no New York."

Alya rolled her eyes at her friend. "Oh please, Marinette. You're excited to be here and you know it." Marinette pursed her lips and remained silent. Alya stared out the window and grinned smugly. "Exactly."

" _All Business Class passengers may exit the plane. Thank you for flying with Parisian Airlines. Have a lovely day."_ The stewardess at the front of their section spoke through the microphone.

The class ambled their way from the plane to the baggage claim, where Chloe and Adrien were already waiting as First Class passengers had been allowed out first. Adrien had been seated in First Class as Gabriel demanded only the finest arrangements for his son. Chloe was seated in First Class as she'd demanded only the finest arrangements from her father.

"Alright, students! Get into your classes so we can call roll before the buses get here!" Miss Boustier called out as she, Mrs Malendeviev, Mr Montouris and Mr Ferberce stood in front, signalling for their classes to get into lines.

Marinette looked around as rolls were called, answering to her name as it passed, and took stock of the many people making their way through the airport in clusters. The mad dashes through terminals and bags being dragged along, no distinct lines as everyone scurried around to catch their planes or meet their friends in an organised chaos that reminded her of her friend and partner Chat Noir.

 _I'm so stupid. Why didn't I tell him I was leaving? He's going to be so confused_. Marinette frowned, wishing she could text him or something to let him know, however due to her unwillingness to reveal their identities they could only converse over the phones equipped with their costumes, and she didn't know if the yoyo could contact him from a long distance.

Marinette knew it was stupid that they hadn't revealed themselves to each other yet, after all they had been partners for three years. The now eighteen year old girl understood that the boy wanted to know her civilian identity, and truth be told she wanted to know his too. But Hawkmoth was still at large, it was too dangerous. She couldn't risk his safety for her own selfish reasons.

Pulled from her thoughts as Marinette vaguely recognised Nino's voice somewhere near her, she turned to greet him - only to realise he wasn't talking to her at all.

"So what'd your girlfriend say when you told her you were gonna be here for nearly a month?" The DJ asked Adrien, making her wince.

Adrien frowned. "I've told you she's _not_ my girlfriend. And she didn't say anything, I haven't seen her since last week." Marinette stiffened, hearing this. _He hadn't talked to her in a week? But they met up every night, or at least that's what Nino said_.

"But I thought you two met up every night?" Said boy questioned, and Marinette thanked him internally, before listening closely for Adrien's answer. She might be trying to get over the guy but that didn't mean she'd quit him cold-turkey.

"First of all, I want to know how you know about that. Second, it's not _every_ night, just most, and she hasn't shown up to any of the patro- _parties_ we usually go to together." Adrien stumbled. Marinette and Nino both raised an eyebrow, each for different reasons. Nino because he was offended that his best bud hadn't invited him to any of these parties. Marinette because she wanted to know what he'd tried to cover up when he said the word.

"What parties?" Nino questioned suspiciously, however before Adrien could stumble for an answer, he was saved by the buses arriving to take the students to the hotel.

"Everybody, single file, onto the buses!" Mr Montouris called and slowly the congregation of students headed onto the bus. Marinette was about to sit down, however Alya called her from the back of the bus. "Marinette, over here! I saved you a seat!" She waved.

Marinette headed towards the back when a foot kicked out and tripped her, causing her to fall right into Nathaniel's lap. Her face flushed as red as the boy's hair and his face was a matching shade. "Oh my gosh, Nathaniel, I'm _so_ sorry!" Marinette apologised, struggling to stand back up.

A smug looking Lila was smirking back at her when Marinette turned to see who had tripped her. The bluenette rolled her eyes. _I should've figured. If it's not Chloe, it's Lila._ She turned back to Nathaniel sheepishly. "Really, Nathaniel. I am super sorry." She swore. The boy simply chuckled, though he still looked mildly uncomfortable. "It's okay, Marinette. It wasn't your fault."

At this, Kim, who was standing behind Marinette tapped her shoulder and nodded to the back pointedly. Marinette squeaked as she realised she was holding up the entire bus and scurried to the seat Alya had saved for her.

Said girl was struggling not to erupt in laughter. "Girl, you somehow make getting from one end of the bus to the other a hassle." Marinette's best friend giggled. Only at the bluenette's glower did she stop.

"Oh _no_ , I hope Adrien didn't see that." Marinette worried, searching the bus for the familiar blonde head of hair. "So what if he did, girl? I thought you said you were trying to get over him?" Alya raised an eyebrow as Marinette's back stiffened. "Oh, uh, I know! I was-am! I am! I'm getting over him!" She stammered, refusing to look Alya in the eye. Her best friend smirked but remained silent.

As the bus travelled along, everyone became increasingly excited. They had received permission to explore _in groups of at least three_ after they had their bags unpacked and placed in their rooms. Nino leaned across the aisle to the girls. "Alya, Mari." Alya immediately leaned closer, causing Mari to smirk. Her best friend could deny her crush on the aspiring DJ all she wanted, but Marinette knew the truth.

"Did you girls wanna form a group with me and my boy, Adrien? That is if Chloe doesn't get her talon's into him." He cast a disapproving glare over at the blonde in question, who was currently flipping her hair and draping herself all over Adrien. Alya nodded and agreed enthusiastically for both Marinette and herself. "Sure, Nino. Sounds fun."

He raised an eyebrow at Mari to double check with her just in case she didn't want to, but grinned and nodded at her approval. "Great! I'll tell Adrien when we get there." Then he turned back to his seat and adjusted his headphones into place. Alya sighed wistfully and turned back to Marinette, who was smirking at her. "What, girl? He's a friend, I don't think of him that way." She defended.

Marinette simply continued smirking and looked away. "Sure you don't, Alya."

"I don't!" The redhead hissed, embarrassed. Marinette decided to take pity on the girl and nodded soothingly. "Okay. If you say so." Alya frowned at her, but shook it off. No use getting mad, she needed Marinette's help in finding Ladybug and the bluenette wouldn't help her if Alya got angry at her. "I do." She simply affirmed, before pulling her phone out and checking the Ladyblog.

XxXxXxX

"Finally, we're here! I've had to pee for the last 45 minutes!" Alya cheered as the bus halted outside of the hotel. Marinette rolled her eyes at the girl, though secretly she was pleased they were finally there as well. She didn't know how much longer she could stand Alix's whining over, "forgetting my skates! How could I forget my skates?!"

Max had chimed in that they would only be in America for three weeks, but in all honesty that had only made the situation worse.

"So, roomie. You ready?" Alya waggled her eyebrows at her best friend as the class began to slowly exit the bus and collect their bags from the holding area beneath it. Marinette grinned and gave an enthusiastic thumbs up, truly excited to be there, though deep down in the pits of her stomach, she still felt a little worried about Chat.

"Hey girls, Nino said we'd all be in a group together this afternoon." Adrien sidled up to the two, forcing any thought the bluenette had of Chat Noir out of her brain. "Oh! H-hey, Adrien. Yeah, um, he did, but if you don't w-want to it's fine." She stammered, increasingly annoyed at herself as it seemed her stutter was back. She really had been getter better at that around him.

"No I'd love to join you!" He grinned, and Marinette really wished he wouldn't because he already looked incredibly attractive as the sun hit his blonde hair, making the soft strands look golden, and really brought out the glimmer in his sparkling emerald eyes. How could she even _hope_ to get over him if he was going to smile at her like that?

" _Adrikins_! There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you! Come join me and Sabrina, we're going shopping after she unpacks my things." Chloe motioned to her red-headed friend that appeared to be struggling with well over ten bags. Marinette knew Chloe would overpack but wow, those were a lot of bags.

Adrien tried to hide his wince as the blonde girl stalked over to him, and automatically took a step back, closer to Marinette, on instinct. "Sorry, Chlo. But I'm already in a group with Marinette, Nino, and Alya." He explained. Chloe's eyes flashed to Marinette's angrily, before she composed herself.

"Oh, well then I guess I'll just join your group of... friends." Chloe sneered the words. Alya quickly opened her mouth to disagree, _strongly_ , but Chloe shut her up with a glare. "I'd hate to have to call my daddy and cut this trip short. I mean I can come back whenever I want but a lot of the rest of the class would be pretty upset, don't you think?" She smirked, and Alya's jaw tightened. "Fine." She spat. "Just don't expect us to _go shopping_ with you."

Chloe was about to respond when the teachers called out to herd the students inside and find their rooms, as Nino walked over. "Kay dudes, so we'll put our bags away and then the four of us will meet in the lobby in fifteen minutes?" He suggested, as Adrien's eyes flitted between Nino's and Chloe's. "Actually Nino, it'll be the five of us." He said.

Nino looked confused but seemed to understand as he locked eyes with Chloe, before he visibly deflated. "Yay!" He sighed sarcastically, and Marinette struggled to contain her giggles at the mayor's daughter's offended expression. "Can't wait."

XxXxXxX

 **Arianna:**

Arianna's eyes widened at her alarm clock that had failed to go off that morning, realising she was late for work.

"Oh no! Oh no! Calvin's gonna kill me!" She rushed around gathering her things and getting changed quickly, before practically racing to her car in order to arrive at work soon. In her haste she didn't notice that she'd forgotten to put on a bra.

Arriving, disheveled, at the office, she speed-walked to her desk in the hope that maybe he hadn't noticed she was forty minutes late. "Adelaide!" Her boss yelled from behind his closed door, and her hope was crushed.

Biting her lip nervously, she walked to his office, inhaling deeply before exhaling. Opening the door, she stepped slightly into the office, still a little bit out of the room, she did _not_ want to face an angry Calvin. "Close the door." He ground, and Arianna could see his fists clenched in fury.

"I-I'd actually rather n-not, sir." She inhaled shakily. "Addison, I will not tell you again." He growled. She gulped and complied. "Come here." He said, and she rushed to do say, mistaking his calmer tone for a calmer boss. "Do I not pay you to be here on time?"

"W-well you see, s-sir, I-"

"Do you think you can just get away with this type of thing, Alisha?"

"N-no sir, of c-course no-"

" _THEN WHY DO YOU TEST ME LIKE THIS?!"_ He slammed a hand on his desk. " _FIRST, YOU WEAR THOSE SHORT SKIRTS AND THE BLOUSES THAT I CAN SEE RIGHT DOWN! YOU BEND OVER TO PLACE ITEMS ON MY DESK IN SUCH AN INVITING WAY ON PURPOSE, ALEXA!_

 _THEN YOU FLIRT WITH GERALD RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, I SAW HIM GRAB YOUR BREAST YESTERDAY, YOU DID NOTHING ABOUT IT! AND TODAY, YOU'RE FORTY MINUTES LATE THINKING YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH IT BY NOT WEARING A BRA_!" He fumed. Arianna was horrified. That's what he thought of her? The - office _slut_ who just wanted sex with her boss?

Despite his rage, Calvin couldn't take his eyes off of Arianna's chest, the sheer blouse she was wearing pressed against it and he had quite a view. Arianna was appalled. How had she worked for such a vile pervert all this time? "I quit!" She screamed, storming from the room as Gerald was about to enter.

His eyes widened at her chest and he stopped to gape at her. "Why, Angela-" she cut him off.

"My name is Arianna and you can both go to hell!" She cried, angry tears trailing down her face as she shouldered her way past him. Storming towards her desk to grab her things, she didn't notice the purple butterfly fluttering towards her until it had set up residence in her necklace.

"Your name may be Arianna, but you will now be known as Blind-Side. I am Hawkmoth. You'd like to get back at the men who wronged you. You'd like to take away their ability to inappropriately view women such as yourself. You'd like to let them know that no one appreciates being objectified and gawked at, yes? I can help you with that. All I need in return is Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous. Do we have a deal, Blind-Side?"

Arianna's eyes narrowed as her lip turned into a smirk as a purple shroud of smoke surrounded her. "Yes, Hawkmoth."

XxXxXxX

 **Hello my friends! It is I, back again! I like updating on Fridays I think. I'ma aim for those. I hope you're enjoying the story, I know the pace is a little slow, but it's picking up. Ari's super power is probably really obvious but that _is_ the intended effect. Anywhoozles, one of my favourite authors just updated her story (It's called Chat Chanceux, Adrien's older brother Felix is best friends with Marinette cuz they skyped a lot during her middle school years, it's really cool you should go check it out - the author is OraxHime) and I wanna go read that, so I shall upload this to good ol' cyberspace and we'll be kickin. **

**Luv ya bubs.**


End file.
